Retrospective Columns

Ionic Capitals and Perceptions of the Past in Greek Architecture

An innovative study of how and why ancient Greek builders sometimes combined older and contemporary carving styles when making capitals

The Ionic order of ancient Greek architecture gradually evolved over the course of the sixth century BCE. In Retrospective Columns, Samuel Holzman examines an overlooked group of nine Ionic monuments that are varied in design but have capitals that combine the pillowy, convex volutes of sixth-century Ionia on one side and the crisp concave volutes of more contemporary styles on the other. Such hybrid capitals had a surprising longevity and range, spanning Greece, Italy, and Turkey between 550 and 250 BCE.

Why did ancient Greek builders sometimes revert to older carving styles and combine them with newer ones? One old theory is that outdated styles were a labor-saving shortcut—a notion Holzman puts to rest with a marble carving experiment that recreated the volutes of one capital. Rather, he argues that hybrid capitals represented an important parallel to other trends in Greek art, notably “bilingual” Attic vases, which combined older and newer painting techniques for sheer visual delight. By studying the chiaroscuro carving effects and painted polychrome decoration of Ionic architecture, Holzman shows that ancient viewers were primed to look for differences in such details, which the book illustrates with many original drawings and diagrams.

Exploring works of Ionic architecture from different periods in Ionia, the Cyclades, Athens, and the Northern Aegean, Retrospective Columns demonstrates that their builders ultimately returned to outmoded elements to establish continuity with the past, reinforcing community identities and architectural tradition.

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